Sorriento's attorney, Mark Sacco, told the judge in a pre-sentencing memorandum that Fragomeni considers Sorriento, 52, a lifelong friend, to be "a gentleman, always willing to help in whatever way he could."

The lawyer added: "Given Chief Fragomeni's position in the community and his professional background, his opinion is particularly relevant."

Reached by phone, Fragomeni said Sorriento was a friend from Catholic Central High School. He said the men have spoken probably three or four times in the last 20 years.

"He's a childhood friend. I just wrote a pretty bland letter," Fragomeni said. It was on private stationery, the chief said when asked.

"I'm not denying that he did (the crime). In my experience he had been a gentleman," Fragomeni said. "Certainly, I'm a law and order guy. I wrote based on his character."

The police chief's support for a convicted felon, albeit an old friend, may sound unusual, but similar letters are written fairly often by high-profile officials on behalf of convicted criminals — the writers just don't advertise it.

For instance, when former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, ex-Sen. Nick Spano and former Supreme Court Justice Thomas Spargo were convicted of unrelated crimes, all received no shortage of support letters from backers ranging from lawyers to lawmakers to veteran law enforcement officials.

Wrongly directed apologies?

William Sorriento's court appearance was the latest sentencing in which a convicted criminal apologized to his or her own family before mentioning the victims — if they mentioned the victims at all.

"I hurt everyone in my family," Sorriento told D'Agostino after being afforded a chance to speak.

Sorriento did at least apologize to the diocese on his own — a marked difference from another defendant on Friday in Albany.

Just before he was sentenced for second-degree kidnapping, James Hennesey needed to be prompted by his attorney to apologize to the family he tried to abduct. He sat and listened to one of the victims recall the "psychological terror" the kidnapping plot had on the man, his wife and their two daughters.

But instead of apologizing to the victim, Hennesey quickly apologized to his own family — and was so emotional he brought his own towel for the tears.

"I would like to say a few words to my loved ones and my close friends, and I'm truly sorry for the unnecessary pain and worry and embarrassment I have caused all of you," Hennesey started out. "But most especially to my children..."

Hennesey eventually told the judge: "In closing I recently sold my home, and will be closing in the next two weeks. I would appreciate it to have just a few days to finish removing the remainder of my belongings before being sentenced."

It was only after his attorney, Robert Molloy, pulled him aside and reminded him of his major gaffe that Hennesey finally apologized to the family he terrorized.

"In addition to that, Your Honor, in reference to (the victim) and his family, I certainly am sorry. If I had to do it over in a healthy manner (it) certainly wouldn't have ended up this way. I apologize greatly to you ... your wife and your kids and I regret immensely what pain and discomfort I just heard you read although I can understand what you had to go through."

The judge, to no surprise, did not grant Hennesey's request for a delay. He got eight years.

Butt out

The handling of a discarded cigarette butt was more lightning rod than smoking gun in a recent Schenectady County burglary trial.

Last week, Deon Lawrence, 36, won his freedom after a jury deliberated for a few hours and acquitted him of felony burglary and grand larceny and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

"There was nothing but this cigarette that had his DNA on it," said Brian Mercy, who represented the Schenectady man during the weeklong trial.

In 2011, after their Craig Street apartment in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood was ransacked and robbed, a man and his girlfriend called police, who responded and searched the dwelling for evidence.

The tenants later discovered the cigarette butt, secured it in a Ziploc bag and called police. Five days passed before police retrieved the bag, said lawyers.

It's unclear why it took that long, and there was conflicting testimony at trial about whether the cigarette butt was placed in a plastic Ziploc or paper bag.

It was sent to the State Police lab for DNA testing and results linked Lawrence to the crime. He was arrested and charged.

Prosecutor Edward Moynihansaid: "We feel there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but the jury differed with regard to identity."

Mercy said the cigarette butt could have been tracked in on someone's shoes and that the one in the photo might have been different from the one that was tested.